Recaps

Shen Niannian and the remaining players left the Lightless Train, but the rule against looking back continued through the final corridor. Shen Niannian resisted a mysterious voice calling her home and escaped the instance, while the voice’s identity remained unknown.

• Cheng Ye warned the players to keep walking after they left the train, and Ning Hongzhuang told Shen Niannian that danger could follow her beyond its protection.
• Shen Niannian stepped through the white door and followed Cheng Ye and the other players along an endless corridor, ignoring voices that tried to make her turn around.
• Chen Zhiyuan turned toward the voice of his dead father and died, leaving seven players alive.
• The other players and Cheng Ye reached the exit, while Shen Niannian continued alone toward it.
• A mysterious man called Shen Niannian and told her to come home; her Identity Archive detected an uninspectable target with an ultra-high-level authority connection.
• Shen Niannian resisted the urge to look back, stepped through the black exit, and heard the man chuckle as the corridor vanished.

After clearing the Lightless Train with an S rating, Shen Niannian received an eerie dress and discovered that the powerful presence who called her home was identified as her father. Five days later, she entered the A-rank Dead Men's Theater, where she was assigned the role of a youngest daughter marked for sacrifice.

• Shen Niannian cleared the Lightless Train with an S rating, gained stronger physical and mental attributes, and received the A-rank eerie item Nightfall Lolita.
• Shen Niannian tested the dress and confirmed that it concealed her human aura and made her appear to be an A-rank eerie.
• The Identity Archive identified the mysterious high-authority presence from the train as Shen Niannian's father, but she could not access further information about him.
• The global audience reacted to Shen Niannian's second consecutive S-rated A-rank clearance, and Zhao Cheng raised the confidentiality level of her file while ordering the bureau not to provoke high-ranking eeries connected to her.
• Five days later, Shen Niannian was summoned to the A-rank instance Dead Men's Theater, where she received the role of youngest daughter and the act one identity of sacrifice.

Shen Niannian entered Dead Men's Theater as the Chen family's youngest daughter, chosen as a sacrifice to be delivered to the ancestral hall. After a player died for refusing an explicit action, a paper effigy took over his role, and Shen Niannian used her eerie outfit to frighten it while allowing the procession to continue.

• Shen Niannian and fourteen other players received their roles and learned that Act 1 required the sacrifice to enter the ancestral hall.
• Ye Qinglan organized the players, and Shen Niannian revealed that she could not deliberately leave the sacrificial procession.
• Wu Lei refused an explicit instruction to tie the red cord around Shen Niannian, and a hemp rope killed him.
• A paper effigy took over Wu Lei's role and approached Shen Niannian with the cord.
• Shen Niannian equipped Nightfall Lolita, frightening the effigy, then held out her hands and let it tie her up so the play could continue.

Shen Niannian entered the Chen family courtyard as the designated sacrifice, and she and Ye Qinglan improvised around the plot to avoid fully activating the bridal gown’s sacrificial status. When outsiders arrived to collect her, the matchmaker mistook Shen Niannian’s A-rank aura for that of an eerie being.

• Shen Niannian wore the Nightfall Lolita, terrifying the paper servant as it tied her wrists loosely with red cord.
• Shen Niannian and Ye Qinglan joined the Chen family sacrifice procession and learned that the youngest daughter could resist but could not leave the compound.
• Shen Niannian discovered that fully wearing the B-rank wedding dress would make the ancestral spirits formally recognize her as the sacrifice.
• Shen Niannian and Ye Qinglan negotiated for her to wear only the outer robe, and the theater accepted their plot adjustment.
• A corpse-faced matchmaker arrived with faceless bearers to collect Shen Niannian, then mistook her A-rank aura for that of an eerie being.

Shen Niannian and Ye Qinglan’s group repelled a Mourning Hall matchmaker who tried to take Shen Niannian, then escorted her to the Chen Family Ancestral Hall. Shen Niannian entered alone, only to be told to climb into a child-sized coffin as the first act reached its final challenge.

• The matchmaker tried to claim Shen Niannian, but her A-rank aura frightened the woman and her bearers into keeping their distance.
• Ye Qinglan identified the visitors as Mourning Hall escorts rather than members of the ancestral hall, and the Chen Family master ordered them to leave.
• The theater announced that the sacrificial procession had to reach the ancestral hall before the hour of the pig, so Ye Qinglan led the group down the steps.
• Shen Niannian found a child-sized blood-red box inside the ancestral hall and read the rule requiring the sacrifice to enter alone.
• Shen Niannian crossed the threshold, the doors shut behind her, and a voice ordered her to enter the coffin herself.

Shen Niannian survived the Chen family’s sacrificial coffin by entering it without wearing the complete bridal attire, causing the ancestral spirits to reject her as an official sacrifice. After Act One ended, the theater assigned her the role of a dead person for Act Two, despite her still being alive.

• Shen Niannian used Identity Archive and learned that the coffin could claim her life only if she was recognized as an official sacrifice and the coffin was sealed.
• Shen Niannian entered the coffin before the countdown expired, and the coffin lid slammed shut around her.
• The ancestral spirits found Shen Niannian’s sacrificial attire incomplete and failed to confirm her as an official sacrifice, so the hands beneath the cloth withdrew.
• Shen Niannian emerged unharmed, and the system announced that she had completed Act One and survived.
• The theater began Act Two preparations and changed Shen Niannian’s role to a dead person, leaving her confused because she was still alive.

During Act Two of the Dead Men's Theater, Shen Niannian played the Chen family's dead youngest daughter and discovered that the rules treated her character as dead even though she was alive. After Fang Kai was killed for denying her character's identity, Shen Niannian fought off a corpse thief while Ye Qinglan and the steward restored the Life Candles, but forty minutes remained before midnight.

• The players entered the mourning hall for Act Two, where Shen Niannian's role was the dead youngest daughter and the rules forbade the dead from leaving before midnight.
• Shen Niannian had Ye Qinglan cover her with a shroud so she could breathe without being watched by the living.
• When the Life Candles began going out and something knocked beneath the coffin, Fang Kai saw Shen Niannian open her eyes and shouted that she was still alive; the theater killed him for denying her character's identity.
• A corpse thief beneath the coffin grabbed Shen Niannian as the candles dwindled, and she hid beneath the shroud and kicked at its hand while Ye Qinglan told the steward to relight the candles in sequence.
• The steward restored all seven Life Candles, forcing the corpse thief to retreat, but the vigil continued with forty minutes remaining until midnight.

During the vigil, paper children repeatedly extinguished the Life Candles, and Liang Feng died after touching a candleholder while trying to steady it. Shen Niannian helped Ye Qinglan stop the children, but the second act’s final instruction suddenly told Shen Niannian to prepare to return to life.

• Three Lamp-Blowing Children entered the funeral hall and began extinguishing the Life Candles, forcing Cao Yong to relight them repeatedly.
• A household servant touched a candleholder to steady it and died when deathly pale flames consumed him; a paper effigy then took Liang Feng’s place in the role.
• Shen Niannian used Identity Archive to learn that attacking the Lamp-Blowing Children would temporarily stop them, then pointed one out to Ye Qinglan.
• Ye Qinglan decapitated one Lamp-Blowing Child, stopping the others from blowing out candles while Cao Yong relit all seven Life Candles.
• The third funeral bell rang, and the theater tickets announced that the vigil was entering its final stage and Shen Niannian must prepare to return to life.

Shen Niannian survived the Chen family’s final mourning and completed her return to life, while Lin Yue died after touching her before the ritual’s questions and answers were finished. Act Two ended, and Shen Niannian learned that she would play the bride in Act Three, “Ghost Marriage,” where she must not mistake someone else for her husband.

• Cao Yong guarded the life candles while Ye Qinglan fought the paper children, and Shen Niannian endured ghostly hands beneath the coffin until the final mourning ended.
• Shen Niannian sat up, but Lin Yue followed her private role prompt and tried to help before the return-to-life questions and answers were complete, so the coffin dragged Lin Yue inside and killed her.
• The master asked Shen Niannian where she had returned from, and she answered that she had returned from the ancestral hall.
• Shen Niannian blew out the center life candle while Ye Qinglan and Cao Yong kept the other six lit, completing Act Two, “Keeping Vigil.”
• Shen Niannian’s ticket assigned her the role of bride in Act Three, “Ghost Marriage,” and warned her not to mistake someone else for her husband.

Shen Niannian faced the ghost wedding’s groom selection, where she had to identify the real groom among three candidates. The arrival of Xie Linyuan, a peak A-rank weird who already knew her, left the courtyard stunned when he asked if he could back out of marrying her.

• The Chen Family compound transformed for the ghost wedding, and the players received new roles and rules requiring Shen Niannian to choose one of three groom candidates.
• Ye Qinglan told Shen Niannian their goals aligned, while the group realized choosing the wrong groom would immediately complete the wedding.
• The Hanged Ghost and the Mouth-Cut Ghost arrived as the first two groom candidates.
• Xie Linyuan arrived as the third candidate, and his peak A-rank presence silenced the other weirds.
• Xie Linyuan recognized Shen Niannian and asked whether he could back out of the wedding.

Shen Niannian uncovered the real groom in the Chen Family’s ghost marriage and chose Xie Linyuan, after Ye Qinglan found the genuine Night-Pattern Marriage Seal. The fake grooms were eliminated, but the Dead Men’s Theater then demanded that Shen Niannian and Xie Linyuan complete three bows, after which she would officially belong to him.

• Xie Linyuan tried to back out of the ghost marriage, but the Dead Men’s Theater sealed the courtyard and gave Shen Niannian fifteen minutes to choose a groom.
• Xie Linyuan hinted that the answer lay in the Chen Family’s records, and Shen Niannian learned he knew her and was reluctant to discuss her father.
• Ye Qinglan found role memories stating that the Chen Family had received a black-and-gold Night-Pattern Marriage Seal and kept it in the ancestral hall.
• The hanged ghost produced a fake seal and attacked Ye Qinglan and Shen Niannian, so Xie Linyuan restrained it while Ye Qinglan fetched the genuine seal.
• Ye Qinglan returned with the authentic seal, and Shen Niannian’s Identity Archive confirmed that her marriage partner belonged to the Night Capital and was present; she chose Xie Linyuan.
• The theater confirmed Xie Linyuan as the true groom and destroyed the fake grooms, then ordered the pair to perform three bows that would make Shen Niannian officially belong to him.

Shen Niannian and Xie Linyuan discovered that the wedding vows could bind their characters rather than their real identities, then stopped two Marriage-Borrowing Ghosts from replacing the elders. As they prepared to complete the final bow, an S-rank woman with a blood-red umbrella appeared at the gate and recognized Shen Niannian.

• The wedding matron’s task required her to announce the bride and groom’s names, so Shen Niannian persuaded her to use their characters’ titles instead of their real names.
• Shen Niannian and Xie Linyuan completed the first bow and established the first part of their Theatrical Marriage Contract.
• Ye Qinglan spotted that one of the apparent elders had no shadow, and Shen Niannian stopped the second bow and placed the Chen Family master and the paper mistress in the elder seats.
• Two B-rank Marriage-Borrowing Ghosts attacked the elders, but Ye Qinglan and Cao Yong held them off while Shen Niannian and Xie Linyuan completed the second bow, forcing the ghosts underground.
• As Shen Niannian and Xie Linyuan prepared to bow to each other, an S-rank woman carrying a blood-red paper umbrella appeared outside the gate and reacted with shock and amusement.

Shen Niannian discovered that the ghost marriage contract still bound her and Xie Linyuan by their real names, then used the bridal gown to confirm their roles and complete the wedding bows. As Act Three ended, the Dead Men's Theater summoned the surviving actors back for the final act, “Who is dead.”

• Su Wangyin, an S-rank guest of the Dead Men's Theater, arrived to watch Shen Niannian and Xie Linyuan’s wedding and teased Shen Niannian about her childhood and her father.
• Shen Niannian inspected the marriage contract and realized it still listed her and Xie Linyuan by their real names instead of their assigned roles.
• Su Wangyin refused to interfere but asked Shen Niannian who she was, leading Shen Niannian to realize she had not completed the bride’s costume.
• Ye Qinglan brought over the Chen Family bridal gown, and Shen Niannian put it on to confirm her bride role and change the contract’s binding targets to their roles.
• Shen Niannian and Xie Linyuan completed the final bow, finishing Act Three and establishing the theatrical marriage between their roles.
• The theater announced that the final act, “Who is dead,” was about to begin and ordered all surviving actors back to the stage.

Shen Niannian and the other actors faced the final act’s questions, where a wrong answer meant death. She correctly identified the Second Young Master as the dead person in the play, but the audience immediately asked who had killed him.

• The theater brought back paper stand-ins for the four dead players and required all fifteen roles to remain onstage for the final act.
• When the audience asked who the dead person was, Ma Hui wrongly named Servant A and was killed, then replaced by a paper figure.
• Shen Niannian realized Zhang Yu’s Second Young Master had remained dead throughout the play, and Su Wangyin hinted that the answer was someone who had appeared alive since the first act.
• Shen Niannian answered that the dead person was the Second Young Master, and the audience accepted the answer.
• The audience asked who had killed the dead person, leaving the actors facing another question.

In the Dead Men's Theater, Shen Niannian and the others discovered that the Chen Family master—not the youngest daughter—killed the second young master to silence him, and they answered the second question correctly. The theater then demanded they choose which of the fifteen characters truly deserved to die, warning that their choice would cause a real death.

• The players received memories showing that the youngest daughter stabbed the second young master, and Guo Ming was killed after wrongly naming her as his killer.
• Zhang Yu's death memories revealed that the second young master survived the stabbing, while the Master's hidden memories showed the Chen Family master killed him to silence him.
• Shen Niannian checked the Identity Archive and confirmed the Master was responsible for the second young master's true cause of death.
• Shen Niannian answered that the Chen Family master killed the second young master, and the theater marked the answer correct.
• The theater presented its third question and told the players to choose which of the fifteen characters truly deserved to die.

Shen Niannian worked out that the Second Young Master was the role that should truly die, not the Chen Family master, and answered the third question correctly. The actors survived the judgment, but the theater began its final curtain call and warned them not to take roles that were not theirs.

• He Jun answered that the Chen Family master should die, but the theater judged him wrong and killed him.
• Shen Niannian realized the questions concerned the roles’ status in the play and identified the Second Young Master as the character who should remain dead.
• Shen Niannian confirmed through Identity Archive that Zhang Yu was alive even though his role was dead, then gave the correct answer.
• The theater confirmed the Second Young Master’s role as dead, and Zhang Yu fell as he continued playing a corpse rather than dying.
• The theater ended the final three questions and began the curtain call, ordering living actors offstage and dead roles to remain behind the curtain.

During the Dead Men's Theater curtain call, Shen Niannian discovered that actors had to tear the role page from their tickets before leaving or the theater would reclaim the role by killing them. All seven surviving players escaped and cleared the A-rank instance, and Shen Niannian earned an S-rank evaluation as rewards began to be distributed.

• Zhou Hong tried to leave while still carrying the Guest A role, and paper figures ripped the role from him, killing him.
• Shen Niannian used Identity Archive to discover how to tear off the role page, then helped the surviving players shed their roles.
• Shen Niannian called Zhang Yu an actor and urged him to tear off his ticket page without breaking his dead-role restrictions, and he succeeded just before the role collector reached him.
• Shen Niannian and the other six surviving players ran through the exit as the curtain fell, completing the Dead Men's Theater instance with all 15 roles retained.
• Shen Niannian received a perfect score for every act and an S-rank evaluation, then waited for her instance rewards.

Shen Niannian cleared the Dead Men's Theater with an S-rank rating and received a protective bow, while news of her ties to powerful figures stirred alarm at the Jiangcheng Weird Management Bureau. Five days later, another dungeon summon appeared on her computer.

• Shen Niannian received improved attributes and the A-rank Crimson Curtain Substitute Knot, which could block one fatal attack from an A-rank or lower anomaly per dungeon and transfer her to safety.
• Su Wangyin told Shen Niannian she would keep the Ghost Marriage secret for now, warning that Night Capital could face trouble if someone found out.
• Shen Niannian returned to her apartment and found that her S-rank clear and connections to Su Wangyin and Xie Linyuan had become trending news.
• Zhao Cheng ordered the Bureau to investigate Shen Niannian's past while restricting investigators from contacting high-level entities connected to her.
• Five days later, a new dungeon summon appeared on Shen Niannian's computer.

Shen Niannian was sent into the S-rank Death Amusement Park, where she and seventeen other players had to follow deadly rules and complete four attractions before midnight. After a player was killed for damaging his wristband, the park’s lord, Joker, recognized Shen Niannian and wished they had never met.

• Shen Niannian was matched into Death Amusement Park after clearing three A-rank dungeons, and the livestream drew millions of viewers.
• Shen Niannian and the other seventeen players arrived at the park, where the rules required them to keep their wristbands on, complete four attractions, collect four stamps, and leave before midnight.
• Chen Hai tried to loosen his wristband with an eerie blade, cracked it, and was killed by the ticket seller, who turned his remains into new wristbands.
• Joker arrived and was identified as the S-rank lord of Death Amusement Park.
• Joker recognized Shen Niannian, and after she asked if they knew each other, he said he wished they did not.

At the Death Amusement Park, Shen Niannian’s forgotten history with Joker earned her VIP privileges, a map, and popcorn. She chose the Beheading Roller Coaster as her first attraction, but Joker told her the VIP membership could not be canceled.

• Joker recognized Shen Niannian but resisted discussing how they knew each other, revealing that after her visit as a child, the park stopped letting children in for free.
• Shen Niannian asked Joker for special treatment, and he gave her a VIP wristband, a map, information about the four designated attractions, and strawberry popcorn.
• Joker warned the other players that VIP status required a bloody membership fee, and Han Feng told them not to copy Shen Niannian’s approach.
• Joker announced that the visitors had to choose their first attraction, and Shen Niannian selected the Beheading Roller Coaster from the map.
• Joker insisted that VIPs go first and refused Shen Niannian’s request to cancel her membership.

Shen Niannian, Han Feng, and other players rode the Beheading Roller Coaster, where hidden seat boundaries and tunnel tricks killed players who broke the ride’s rules. Shen Niannian earned her first smiley-face stamp, but another player died on the next ride as the Corpse Puppet Carousel became the next recommended attraction.

• Shen Niannian chose seat 3A after learning VIPs could select their seats, and Han Feng sat beside her in 3B.
• During the ride, Lin Chao leaned outside his seat’s protection range to help Zhang Wei, and a beheading line killed him.
• Shen Niannian used Identity Archive to discover that each seat protected only its designated area, then warned the other players not to lean out.
• Players resisted voices and apparitions in the tunnel, waited for the green light after the train stopped, and safely left the ride.
• Shen Niannian received one of four smiley-face stamps, while Zhou Kai died during the second round and the Corpse Puppet Carousel appeared as the next attraction.

Shen Niannian and the other players survived the Corpse Puppet Carousel by following its rules, though Sun Yi died after trying to leave an abnormal hair behind with his shoe. As the survivors left, the park played “Happy Birthday,” forcing everyone to close their eyes while footsteps approached from inside the amusement park.

• Shen Niannian learned that carousel riders had to refuse anyone asking to ride with them and check for extra items before getting off; staff could remove abnormal items.
• A corpse puppet turned into a doll on Zhao Kai’s backpack, and a staff member safely removed and destroyed it.
• Sun Yi tried to leave a black hair behind by taking off his shoe, but the hair followed him and killed him.
• The remaining players completed the carousel, and Shen Niannian’s smiley-face stamps increased to 2/4.
• The park’s lights turned red and “Happy Birthday” played, so Han Feng ordered everyone to close their eyes as footsteps approached.

During the Death Amusement Park’s birthday parade, Jiang Luo and Jiang Xiaobai arrived, and Jiang Xiaobai ate the ghost that had been tormenting the players. Jiang Luo confronted Joker over the park’s missing player quota, while Jiang Xiaobai sensed that someone would kill him if he ate Shen Niannian.

• Shen Niannian and the other players kept their eyes closed as the birthday parade’s ghost tempted them, and Han Feng warned a player not to open his eyes when it imitated his daughter.
• Jiang Luo and Jiang Xiaobai appeared during the parade, and Jiang Xiaobai ate the ghost after it offered him birthday cake from its belly.
• After the parade ended, Shen Niannian identified Jiang Luo as the Lord of Crimson Moon Castle and Jiang Xiaobai as an S-rank Glutton.
• Jiang Luo told Joker that Death Amusement Park was short by three hundred and seventy-two players for its monthly share.
• Jiang Xiaobai approached Shen Niannian but said he could not eat her because he felt someone would beat him to death if he did.

Shen Niannian learned that powerful beings feared a mark protecting her, though Joker refused to reveal who was behind it. As the amusement park’s next attraction began, she headed for the Smiley Face Haunted House with the other players.

• Jiang Xiaobai said his instincts warned him not to eat Shen Niannian because someone would kill him, though he thought Jiang Luo could eat her.
• Jiang Luo questioned Joker about Shen Niannian’s VIP bracelet and special treatment, and Joker admitted that someone beyond Shen Niannian’s childhood self made him cautious.
• Jiang Xiaobai sensed Shen Niannian had been marked by something that might learn of him if he bit her, while Joker declined to explain further.
• Shen Niannian decided to finish the remaining attractions and asked whether Joker could simply give her the stamps, but he said the rules required her to complete them.
• Joker’s pocket watch rang, and the Smiley Face Haunted House was announced as the third attraction, prompting Han Feng and the players to head for its entrance.
• Jiang Luo invited Shen Niannian to visit Crimson Moon Castle, and Jiang Xiaobai said she smelled delicious despite being afraid to eat her.

Shen Niannian and the remaining players entered the Smiley Face Haunted House, where they learned that fake staff could imitate badges and exploit visitors’ trust. After Ma Tao followed a deceptive guide into a supposed safe passage and died, the group realized the attraction’s anomalies could save someone before killing them.

• Jiang Luo and Jiang Xiaobai left Shen Niannian and the other players to enter the haunted house without them.
• Shen Niannian learned the haunted house rules, including that genuine staff had to answer identity questions truthfully, and Han Feng warned the group to ask anyone claiming to be staff directly.
• The players rejected a fake staff member who tried to lead them through an unmarked passage after it failed to answer Han Feng’s question directly.
• A genuine-looking guide saved Xu Cheng from ghost actors, but Shen Niannian’s Identity Archive revealed that the guide was an anomaly and a special actor; Xu Cheng refused to follow it.
• Ma Tao followed the guide despite the warnings, and the guide killed him before returning and boasting that saving someone did not mean it could not kill them.